We Love Daddy!

The kids really love their Daddy ... as do I :).  I love it when they cuddle up on him... anywhere and everywhere!

Here are the little ones loving on Daddy after church. 

I think he is secretly still one of the kids ;)

The Summer of Swimming!

Our neighborhood pool is open for the summer and the kids have been wanting to go swimming... so the time came to haul out the swimming gear and head to the pool.  Let's just say that the water was a little cold for me, but the kids never seem to mind.  I have also decided that it's hard to take photos while at the pool.  First everyone is so busy that they don't look at the camera.  Second, once I'm in the water the camera is forgotten about.  As an example we attended a pool party on Memorial Day, but since we were busy watching kids in the water the camera never even made it out of the bag!  Well, with all of that being said, here are the kids enjoying their first swim of many for this season :)

Clark!

Sandra and Talmage

Lorna.  She ended up crawling around a lot and exploring the pool.  She didn't really start enjoying the water until it was about time to go.  By then she loved swimming.  She also really loved to climb out of the kiddie pool and then slide back it.  She's a little smartie!

Clark and Mhari in the kiddie pool... my non swimmer area.

Mhari

Grant

Talmage

Lorna found Clark's boots!  

She loves to put them on her hands!

I will try to take some better photos of the swimming.  Plus we are working on getting the kids into some swim lessons too.  It's going to be a nice wet summer :)

Hungry Bug

Lorna loves food.... such a funny girl!

Here she is enjoying a toy cupcake.

She loves the camera!

Lorna thinks she is a big girl and wants to eat like the big kids.  The problem is that Clark is a great sharer so Lorna gets things a lot sooner than the other kids ever did.  Here she is enjoying an apple that Clark shared.  

She was really happy about it and didn't want to let it go!

One fisted grip

She actually got some good bites into the apple too!  

She will be able to eat a whole apple before I know it!  She is growing up so fast!

One year older

Time keeps moving along... and it seems like the years are really flying by!  I celebrated another birthday this month.  It was a nice day and we celebrated the evening by going out to a nice restaurant with the family.  I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and kids!  They make my life happy and full!  Here are just a couple of photos of blowing out my candles :)

I think it is strange that as I age I feel that I'm looking better and better... well, older too, but in general I feel good and feel pretty too :).  One of my friends posted for my birthday "One year older and more beautiful too."  I guess that's how I'm feeling ;).  Not much to complain about.  Here's to another year!

Basketball players

We bought the kids a basketball hoop at Christmas time.  Well, with the move delayed and the weather being cold and then not much time to assemble the hoop it took us until just recently to get the basketball hoop put together.  Actually it was thanks to Grant and his persistence and asking his daddy to set it up.  Then Jeff got to teach them more about shooting and how to stay out of the way when retrieving the ball and such.  Jeff even taught them horse.  I really enjoyed seeing them play together!

Here are some shots of the boys shooting :)

Grant

Talmage

Clark and Daddy!  So cute!

Daddy teaching time.  

I'm sure that basketball hoop will be getting tons of use over the next several years ;)

Being a kid

One of my favorite things of being home with my kids is seeing them learn, explore, and just be a kid!  Little Lorna has really been exploring lately.  We have an empty cupboard that she discovered and she tried it out for a while too...

She fit right inside :)

Clark joined in on the fun too

Peek-a-boo!

They really love each other!  It is so fun to watch Clark and Lorna play together! 

I was upstairs hanging out and the kids came rolling in the big bin for under the bunk bed.  Mhari was pushing Clark and Lorna.  Then it turned into a boat for everyone!

Lorna thinks she is such a big girl, playing with the big kids ;)

I love them :)

Beautiful Bug!

Here is our sweet Lorna bug photos for her 1 year :).  

She wasn't too sure about the photos at first, but she was still too cute (even if there was a tear by her eye).

Close up!

She liked the chair

Profile - love the dimple!!

Happy silly girl!

Look up here :)

Cute poser

Standing, full body shot!

I did a mini photo shoot of bug and this is what I got.  She is a little cutie and really likes her picture taken, once she's in the mood ;).  I still need to get her official one year stats, but she is 22 lbs!  She is still not sure that she needs to walk all the time.  I guess, why bother when crawling is faster.  She just loves her siblings, and most people for that matter.  I can't believe it's been a year!  She's a great baby and so beautiful :)

Muffins with Mom

The school did Muffins with Mom.  The school really went all out - huge muffins, doughnuts, go-gurts, juice, etc.  They even had the school pep squad do some cheers.  It was a fun morning :)

Here are the kids enjoying their breakfast treats...

Talmage

Sandra

Grant

Clark

1 Year old Bug!

I can't believe our little Lorna bug is already 1!  She has been such a great baby and a true love of our family!  We celebrated her birthday a day early since grandparents were in town.  She really figured out the present thing pretty quickly too.  Here is the celebration:

Opening presents

cute girl

flower

pony tails

toy

blanket - peek-a-boo!

Her goodies!

The cake!

Daddy helped blow out the candle

Eating!

Happy girl

Present from Grandma Whitmer

Lorna has grown so much over this year!  She has started walking, but is still more comfortable crawling.  She waves "hi" and "bye" and loves to baby talk.  She loves people and all of the attention she gets in our family!  She is still a mama's baby and that's fine with me.  She has started smiling really well for pictures and loves to see the camera after the picture is taken.  She has her four top teeth and two bottom teeth.  She is still working on more teeth!  Lorna is a joy in our family!  
Happy birthday Love Bug!